LONDON (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has
launched ablistering tirade against Tony Blair and other world figures,
accusing theBritish premier of doing "mad things" and leading the world into
turmoil.

In an interview to be screened by Sky News television on Monday,
Mugabe saidBlair considered himself to be "superhuman" and looked down on
other people.He also criticised U.S. President George W Bush for "cheating
the world"over Iraq.

"They knew they were wrong by deciding to attack
Iraq. They deceived theworld with lies, lies of mass deception, by telling
them that there wereweapons of mass destruction," Mugabe said.

Mugabe
said Blair still behaved as though Zimbabwe was a British colony andwas
trying to control it.

"You can see some of the mad things he has done and
the world is now inturmoil," the Zimbabwean leader said.

"He has
opposed us in my election, he has called upon nations to...regardZimbabwe as
a lawless country, a country where democracy is not respected,where there is
no rule of law, where human rights do not exist, and all thatis a
lie."

Mugabe also lashed out at South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
whorecently likened the Zimbabwean president to an archetypal African
dictator.

"He is an angry, evil and embittered little bishop," Mugabe
said inresponse.

Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980,
dismissed reports of organisedviolence against supporters of Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for DemocraticChange (MDC) as "allegations".

He
also denied using youth training camps to train young supporters of hisown
ZANU-PF party to use violence on groups who oppose the government.

"It is
a National Service, in a sense, this is a youth training scheme," hesaid.
"The youth must be developed and developed in respect of all skills.They
must think Zimbabwean, feel Zimbabwean and be nationally
conscious."

Mugabe, 80, was re-elected in 2002 but the opposition MDC and
severalWestern countries say he rigged the elections.

He told Sky
News he was unlikely to stand again when his term ends in 2008,saying: "I
also want to rest and do a bit of writing."

Mugabe denies charges his
rule has caused an economic meltdown with soaringinflation and unemployment,
as well as persistent shortages of foreigncurrency.

The veteran
leader blames the ruin on sabotage by local and foreignopponents of his
policy of confiscating white-owned farms for redistributionto landless
blacks.

WHAT were the powers that be at SKY NEWS thinking??
Would they give hitler, idi amin, saddam hussein or ceausescu an hour long
interview? So WHY give 6 mins airtime, let alone an hour, to
this lying murderous dictator & members of his inner circle? ESPECIALLY
after the appalling treatment the Sky News team has been subjected to! To say
nothing of the way he constantly insults & trashes the British and their
leaders.

Do your millions of viewers worldwide need(or even
want) to be "convinced" of mugabe's twisted arguements? I THINK NOT! After 24
years of systematically destroying a once fine country, the world knows the
MONSTER mugabe is! Certainly, people can be gullible & stupid, but to
deliberately feed them this absolute drivel is unacceptable! If more than 2% of
viewers are taken in by this ghastly interview, it will be enough to make one
lose faith in humanity! So what is it all about then ......a scoop?
sensationalism? viewership percentages?

Innocent Chofamba Sithole of the Zim. Mirror
newspaper, writing about the Sky News coverage, reports that the channel has
come under immense pressure from British authorities NOT to air the interviews
on account of their POSITIVE thrust (oh how sickening can Sky News
get????)....which runs counter to the negative image of Zim, "conjured" in Brit.
minds by "unrelenting anti-mugabe propaganda". !?!?!? And a zanu-pf spokesman
has boasted that "the president has been interviewed for 50 mins, which is a
long time , as there are few occasions when political leaders have been given
such exposure in the international media, particularly in Europe!" THANK YOU
Sky News for playing right into the hands of that monster's propaganda machine!!
They will milk it for everything they can get !

The Sky News piece recently on the militia camps
& farm invasions was given a sympathetic slant...THAT was disappointing
enough! But this "civilised" exposure of a powermad megalomaniac, who has ruined
the country, brutally crushing the opposition, & who continues to
systematically murder & starve his own people to remain topdog is just TOO
MUCH!! Sky News should have put its finances, efforts, & considerable time
into something infinately more worthwhile!

I hope that this entire sickening & disgusting
interview backfires on you & you will lose viwers as a result! Sky News
will cease to be my news channel of choice from hereon!

LONDON - Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe will stay in office as long as hispeople want him
to, but he does not plan to run for re-election in 2008, hesaid in a
television interview broadcast Monday.

Mugabe also lashed out at
President Bush and British Prime Minister TonyBlair for the war in Iraq ,
telling Sky News TV "they deceived the worldwith lies" about Iraq's weapons
of mass destruction and now "the chickenshave come back to
roost."

He also called South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a
critic of Zimbabwe'shuman rights record, "angry" and
"evil."

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since it achieved freedom from
Britain in1980, appeared to dismiss the need for talks with his country's
oppositionmovement, which disputes his victory in the March 2002 election.
Oppositionleaders and independent observers maintain Mugabe used
intimidation andvote-rigging to win the poll and continue his authoritarian
rule.

"If there is business to negotiate about we will welcome
negotiations,"Mugabe told Sky News TV. "But if there is no business I don't
see why weshould talk about negotiations."

Opposition lawmakers
"are in parliament, they get their voices heard ... andthat's the normal way
of running a democratic system."

When asked how long he intended to
remain in office, Mugabe said, "For aslong as the people want me to stay,
but not for eternity, of course."

He said he wanted to "rest and do a
bit of writing."

Mugabe said he did not have a successor in
mind.

The Zimbabwean leader criticized Bush and Blair for going to
war in Iraq.

"They knew they were wrong by deciding to attack Iraq,
they deceived theworld with lies, lies of mass deception, by telling them
that there wereweapons of mass destruction, and they thought the world was
going to becheated for all time," Mugabe said. "And there you are now, the
chickenshave come back to roost."

He also said Blair, a strong
critic of Zimbabwe's alleged human rightsabuses, has done "mad things ...
and the world now is in turmoil."

Mugabe also singled out Tutu, who
won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for hisefforts against apartheid in South
Africa.

Mugabe described Tutu as "an angry, evil and embittered
little bishop, yousee, who thinks that his own views should
hold.

"He was a frightened man during the apartheid era and the
little he did wasperhaps just to criticize and criticize even in an innocent
way, apartheid,"Mugabe said.

Zimbabwe faces its worst political
and economic crisis since independencefrom Britain in 1980. The
often-violent seizure of thousands of white-ownedfarms for redistribution to
blacks, coupled with erratic rains, havecrippled the agriculture of a nation
that was once a regional bread basket.

During the past three years,
Zimbabwe's economy has been in spiralingdecline with 3.3 million people
reliant for survival on internationaldonors' food
relief.

In the interview, Mugabe stood by his
government's forecast for a bountifulharvest this year that will be more
than enough to feed his people.

A correspondent asks the leader
of Zimbabwe about violence, poverty andcorruption

Zimbabwe
government supporters who beat up dissenters are no worse than JohnPrescott,
President Mugabe has said. In his first interview with a Britishnews
organisation for four years, Mr Mugabe told Sky News that Tony
Blairconsiders himself "superhuman" but is not, that the World Food
Programme istrying to foist food on Zimbabwe that it does not need, and that
hisGovernment's drive to seize white farms and give them to black
Zimbabweansis "going to reinvigorate the economy". The interview took 15
months tosecure and was conducted in the elegant surroundings of State
House. Lookingurbane, relaxed but showing the effects of age, the
80-year-old Presidentanswered questions on the issues that have led to his
regime being describedaround the world as inept, racist and corrupt. His
answers were charged withhostility towards Mr Blair. "I don't know how
Britain came by him. You cansee some of the mad things he has done and the
world is now in turmoil," MrMugabe said. He insisted that his Government
wanted dialogue with Britainbut that Mr Blair "won't have it because he
doesn't want to talk to us. Weare inferior. He is superhuman. No, and he
won't be drawn into discussionswith us."

Mr Blair still
considered Zimbabwe a colony, he said. The Prime Minister'srecent meeting
with Colonel Gaddafi of Libya was "not just to get Libyan oilbut also to get
Libya to desist from assisting us". The controversy overEngland's autumn
tour to Zimbabwe was Mr Blair using "the cricket bat as aweapon against
Mugabe". But Mr Mugabe gave no ground when asked about themany charges
levelled against his own regime. Questioned about the violentsuppression of
political opponents by supporters of his ruling Zanu PFparty, he suggested
that such incidents were no worse than the action of MrPrescott in hitting a
protester during the 2001 general election campaign."The Deputy Prime
Minister beats a person, boxes a person and that personfalls down," he said,
holding his balled fist in the air. "(You mean) thatis more acceptable than
the violence of a small group that might just bemistaken in its own belief
that violence will work?" He admitted only to"hitches" in the 2002 general
election, which international observers saidwas stolen. "We say the election
was fair. We say all the African groupspronounced the election fair." He
denied recent reports that Zanu PF had setup training camps to teach young
Zimbabweans brutal methods of suppression.The camps were a programme of
National Service, he said. The allegationscame from "people who do not want
us to train the youth, who fear thatperhaps we are training the youth to be
nationalistic, to respect their ownculture and the African
personality".

He also denied that Zimbabwe faced mass starvation,
despite mountingevidence to the contrary and dire warnings from
international aid agencies."We will have enough food for the country and
with a surplus," he insisted.He had expelled the World Food Programme this
month because its assistance"should go to hungrier people, hungrier
countries than ourselves . . . Whyfoist this food upon us? We don't want to
be choked. We have enough."Despite crippling debts, 600 per cent inflation,
and a 40 per cent economiccontraction between 1999 and 2003, Mr Mugabe
likewise insisted that theeconomy was "now improving - it is getting out of
that mess". He admittedthat there were corrupt individuals in his party, but
when asked if hehimself was corrupt replied: "Oh come on, come on, come on."
The mansion,said to cost £14 million, being built for him on the edge of
Harare, was apresent from Zanu PF, he said. Malaysia was donating the timber
and China,another friendly nation, the roofing materials. Mr Mugabe said
that he wouldstay in office "as long as the people want me to stay", and had
no successorin mind. However, he doubted that he would stand again. Mr
Mugabe wasapparently persuaded to grant the interview by senior members of
Zanu PF,concerned about the image of their country and their party in the
outsideworld. They still believed that the country could be turned around,
and thatone of their best assets was the President, when allowed to talk at
length.

The Zimbabwean president,
Robert Mugabe, angrily denies that his countryneeds food aid and rejected
charges that his government inflicts humanrights abuses in an interview with
Sky News released today. In theinterview, the first Mr Mugabe has given to
British media for several years,the leader clung to his position that the
Blair government is responsiblefor whatever problems his country is facing.
He also attacked Bishop DesmondTutu and Bulawayo's Archbishop Pius Ncube as
"unholy men". Critics inZimbabwe say the interview exposes Mr Mugabe as a
leader out of touch withthe reality of his country. Mr Mugabe said his
government would not acceptinternational food aid in the coming year. "We
are not hungry. It should goto hungrier people, hungrier countries than
ourselves," he said. "Why foistthis food upon us? We don't want to be
choked, we have enough." He saidZimbabwe would produce 2.3m tonnes of maize
this year, though independentand international food monitors have dismissed
the figures as fantasy andcompletely unrealistic. They warn of widespread
famine if Mr Mugabe does notpermit international aid. Mr Mugabe rejected
charges that torture, rape andterror are being inflicted by his youth
militia on the opposition and thewider population. "These are the
allegations being made by people who do notwant us to train the youth, who
fear perhaps we are training the youth to benationalistic, to respect their
own culture and respect the Africanpersonality," he said.

He denied
documented reports of systematic human rights abuse by police andother
groups, suggesting that any violence came from over-zealous supportersof his
Zanu PF party. "We have millions of supporters in the country but youalso
get small groups naturally that act in order to demonstrate that theyare
strong in particular areas especially when they are provoked and in
themajority of cases because of the provocation of MDC." Mr Mugabe's
assertionsfly in the face of several reports by human rights groups which
state thatpolice and groups allied to his party are responsible for more
than 90% ofthe political violence in the country. When confronted with the
criticism ofthe retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu that Mr Mugabe now resembles
acaricature of an African dictator, he dismissed the Nobel peace
prizewinneras "an angry, evil and embittered little bishop". Mr Mugabe said
thearchbishop "was a frightened man during the apartheid era and the little
hedid was perhaps just to criticise in an innocent way. When called upon to
dosomething that would distinguish him as supporter of the ANC, he didn't."
Healso turned on the Catholic Archbishop of Zimbabwe's second city,
Bulawayo,who has claimed that 10,000 Zimbabweans in his Matabeleland region
died ofhunger-related causes last year. "That's another Tutu, the bishop, an
unholyman, he thinks he is holy and telling lies all the day, every day,"
said MrMugabe. "Oh come on, 10,000 people, where did they die? Even show me
asingle person who died of hunger." Some Zimbabweans said the
interviewdemonstrated that Mr Mugabe has lost touch. "He is delusional about
foodproduction, in denial about violence, and abusive about Desmond Tutu,
PiusNcube and other critics," said Iden Wetherell, editor of the
ZimbabweIndependent. "This is self-evidently a leader who has lost
direction. All hecan do is shake his fists at a world he no longer
understands." Mr Mugaberepeated the assertion that he intends to serve out
his current term, whichlasts until 2008, when he will be 86. He said he has
no successor in mind.

Deadline for white Namibian farmers to offer land
to state May 24, 2004

By Brigitte Wieldich

Ongombo West, Namibia - Four generations of farming in Hilde Wiese'sfamily
are about to come to an end following a Namibian government order tosell
their farm.

Wiese is among 15 white farm owners who were told by
lands ministerHifikepunye Pohamba to "make an offer" within 14 days to sell
their propertyand enter into talks on the expropriation. The deadline
expires today.

Wiese owns Ongombo West, a farm located about 50km
from Windhoek,where she and her son Andreas raise cattle, grow vegetables
and for the pastfive years produce arum lilies for export to Germany and The
Netherlands "We have to sell the farm to the government, what
else can wedo?" .

But a dispute with six black
labourers who were evicted from the farmput Wiese in the spotlight of land
ownership in Namibia.

"We have to sell the farm to the government,
what else can we do?"Andreas said.

President Sam Nujoma singled
out the Wiese farm in a speech at a MayDay rally, saying "some of the whites
are behaving as if they came fromHolland or Germany. We can drive them out
of this land."

The president's tirade was the last straw for the
Wieses, who feelthey are scapegoats in a political campaign that is heating
up ahead ofelections in November and Nujoma's upcoming
retirement.

"President Nujoma mentioned me by name and called me a
'criminal'. Ourcase is being used to set a precedent," said
Andreas.

Namibia's mainly white Agricultural Union has asked the
government toextend the 14-day deadline, saying the criteria for choosing
the 15 wereunclear.

The order to the white farmers to sell
their property has raised fearsthat Namibia may be on the same path as
Zimbabwe, where land from whitefarmers was seized, some
forcibly.

But the government maintains land reform will be
carried out in thecontext of the law and is necessary to address the fact
that most ofNamibia's arable land is in white hands.

Two years
ago, members of Nujoma's governing Swapo Party marched on afarm near the
town of Gobabis, broke the locks on the gate and slashed thetyres of
tractors while shouting anti-white slogans after the farmer won acourt order
to evict his labourers.

The Wiese family had a similar eviction
order in hand when six blackworkers, their wives and 10 children were
removed from their farm a few daysbefore Christmas last year.

The Wieses wanted the six to leave after a dispute over a goose thatwas
accidentally killed by one of the workers turned nasty and Andreas
wasthreatened.

A labour court in February ordered the workers
be reinstated and thesix are back at work but are refusing to move back into
their humble houseson the farm.

"We don't know that we can go
and live there again", says AmandaHoebes, who lives in a tent provided by
the government.

"We heard of the eviction and we hope we can settle
once the ownersare gone," Hoebes said.

She said the government
has been providing them with fresh water oncea week and also
food.

At the Wiese family, work is winding down in anticipation of
the sale.A campsite on the farm is closed and no lilies have been planted in
recentmonths.

Zimbabwe

PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO
ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY

We
have a fundamental right to freedom of expression!

Sokwanele reporter

24 May
2004

Violence and lawlessness continue unabated in
Zimbabwe.Over the weekend a serious assault took place
on a ranch manager and some of his game scouts in the SaveValley Conservancy. Anthony Bodington is
the manager of Masapas Ranch within the Conservancy.On Friday 21st May he and six of
his scouts were ambushed and attacked by an assorted group of war vets, poachers
and illegal squatters. Their assailants were armed with knobkierries, assegais
and machetes. They were abducted and held overnight in the bush where they were
severely tortured. During the course of their ordeal they were subjected to
gross verbal and physical abuse. The physical abuse included severe beatings
with knobkerries which resulted in bruises, broken limbs and widespread
lacerations. A game scout was stabbed and Bodington, for whom the assailants
appear to have reserved the worst of their venom, was at one time held down and
made to endure the motions as if they were going to cut off his
arm.

The abductees were rescued from the gang of
violent thugs early the following morning by a ZRP support unit.All were in poor shape and they required
immediate medical attention.Bodington
who was severely traumatized was admitted to hospital in Triangle.Full medical details of the injuries have
been recorded and graphic photos reveal how savage and prolonged was the
attack.

The police took down statements from those
abused and have already made 33 arrests in connection with the incident. It is
understood that one of those who led the attack, named Chirapa, was among those
arrested.He is already on a charge of
assault with intent to cause gross bodily harm in connection with an assault
incident which occurred in 2002.On that
occasion it is believed he and a brother of the same name led a group of more
than 20 illegal squatters in a vicious attack on another senior member of the
team managing Masapas Ranch.That case
has inexplicably been postponed time and again.

The intervention of the police and arrest of
some of the violent thugs responsible is a welcome development, though time will
tell if they are to be prosecuted with the full force of the law.This aside, the continued presence of armed
gangs of violent thugs who can, at will, abduct innocent citizens and carry out
such murderous attacks upon them, dispels once and for all the notion that the
level of violence and lawlessness is abating in
Zimbabwe.

Since the Zimbabwe
Government embarked on its fast track land resettlementprogramme, the food
situation, particularly in respect of the staple maize,has been getting
worse every year. Initially people were talking of foodshortage, but
"famine" would now seem a more appropriate term to apply tothe situation the
country now faces. "Famine" has been used to describesituations of extreme
food scarcity and starvation in countries such asEthiopia and Eritrea.
Nobody ever contemplated that Zimbabwe, formerly thebread-basket of southern
Africa, would come to be referred to in terms offamine.

The fast
track resettlement programme was officially completed in August2002.
Theoretically, it should therefore have been possible to properly planfor
the 2003/4 agriculture season, at least in respect of ensuring thatenough
maize would be planted. As will become evident in this report, therewas no
such planning. The certain consequences are going to be severeshortages of
food, although just how severe is unclear due to lack ofinformation. In the
past, information about the food supply situation in thecountry was given to
anybody interested, but in the current situation ofpolicy-induced food
scarcity and the militarization of the Grain MarketingBoard (GMB), the
public is deliberately denied access to information.Independent observers
who monitor food demand and supply trends areconcerned about the spectre of
famine. The donors, who must be thanked forsaving the lives of well over 6
million people over the past three years,are exasperated by the lack of
information.

On its part, the government is content to manipulate food
for politicalgain, and appears quite unconcerned about the plight of the
people. Thislack of care by the government is evident, for example, in the
government'sunwillingness to approach UNDP for food assistance in a timely
fashion. TheWorld Food Programme (WFP) cannot begin to approach donors until
an officialrequest has been received. Last year, as the well documented
concerns voicedby the opposition party and the donor community became more
insistent, thegovernment request was finally made in July 2003. This year,
with anelection in prospect and control over food therefore more important
thanever to a self interested government, it is remains in doubt whether
anyofficial request will be submitted at all. It is against this
backgroundthat it was considered important to carry out an independent study
of thefood situation in the country.

2. METHODOLOGY

The study
is based on a physical survey of the crop in the ground inselectedparts
of Mashonaland East, Central, West, Manicaland, Midlands and
Masvingoprovinces, together with information from other sources, including
cropforecasts by FEWSNET, the SADC Early Warning System and
farmers'organisations. The team undertook the field visits before
analyzingestimates by independent observers.

The field survey was
spread over a 10 day period in early March 2004. Theteam selected communal
areas, resettlement areas, small-scale commercialareas and new fast track
resettlement areas in each province visited. Theselection took into account
highly productive areas that would provide agood and representative
indicator of the amount of maize grown. The team wasinterested to see the
area under cultivation, the area fallow and quantityand quality of maize
stands. The team was able to talk to many farmers inmost of the areas
visited.

3. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

3.1 Demand

The 1991-92
drought gave Zimbabwe a baseline figure for minimum consumptionrequirements
for both human beings and livestock. During that time, themonthly sales of
maize by GMB peaked a 150 000 tonnes, equivalent to annualconsumption of 1
800 000 tonnes of maize. In addition, GMB was importingwheat and rice. Wheat
sales amounted to 480 000 per year while rice was 24000 tonnes per year.
That brought the total cereals requirement to 2 304 000tonnes per year. This
was more than 10 years ago when the population wasestimated to be 10 million
or so. Considering maize and small grains only,human consumption
requirements are estimated to be 120 kgs per person peryear. Using a
population of 11 million people the maize/small grainsrequirements is 1 320
000 tonnes. The total requirements, taking intoaccount other consumption and
strategic reserve needs, are shown in Table 1.

The bulk of this report deals in detail with
the factors determining thelikely level of production in the current season,
but it may be useful tothe reader to have a summary upfront of our
production estimates. Theessential elements to be estimated are the area
under production and theaverage yield, these being determined in turn by the
availability of seed,fertiliser, tillage and rainfall.

On the basis
of commercial seed availability, plus an estimate of the seedplanted from
retentions from the previous year, the area being cropped isthought to be
between 1 280 000 ha and at most 1 600 000 ha. In view of thedeficient level
of fertiliser available (30% of ideal requirements),inadequate tillage and
excessive rain at the end of the season (thisadversely affecting sorghum in
particular), it is unlikely in our view thatthe average yield will be higher
than 0.5 tonnes per ha, and could well beas low as 0.35 tonnes per ha. This
compares with the previous nationalaverage of 0.75 tonnes per ha, which was
based on production by commercialfarmers of 5 tonnes per ha, while the rest
of the farmers having a muchlower yield even when there were no constraints
on the availability ofinputs.

Taking into account the failure of the
early planted maize and the lateseason problems for small grains, our
central estimate is production of 600000 tonnes of maize plus 100 000 tonnes
of sorghum. Excluding any strategicstocks, this would imply a shortfall of 1
200 000 tonnes. Given theuncertainty surrounding many of the parameters, it
is possible thatproduction may be higher. Our upper estimate is 800 000
tonnes of maize and200 000 tonnes of small grains would still result in a
shortfall of 900 000tonnes for the current crop year.

3.3 Urban
Maize

The dire food situation in the country has led to unoccupied land
in urbanareas being used for food production. Some people in the urban areas
havegrown a good crop, though very small per individual. Collectively, it
isestimated that a total of 50 000 tonnes will be produced by the
urbanpeople.

There are permanent police roadblocks in all major roads
into the cities,with GMB employees being posted there to impound maize
coming into the urbanareas. This is nothing short of a systematic starving
of the urban peoplewho in many cases would have provided the productive
inputs to their parentsand relatives in the communal areas. Through this
mechanism, it is the urbanareas which this year will be chronically short of
food.

4. FACTORS DETERMINING FOOD PRODUCTION

The Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, WaterDevelopment, Rural Resources
and Resettlement looked into the issue ofavailability of agriculture inputs
before the start of the current seasonand presented its Report to Parliament
on the 19th November 2003. ThisReport covered seed, fertilizers and tillage.
This report was compiled onthe basis of oral evidence from the seed houses,
fertilizer companies,farmers' organizations and officials from the Ministry
of Lands Agricultureand Rural Resettlement.

The Portfolio committee
initiated this study because it was "concerned withthe non availability of
agricultural inputs on the market, despite the factthat we are already into
the summer crop season". (Report of PortfolioCommittee on Lands Agriculture
presented to Parliament on 19th November2003). The Parliamentary report is
factual and authoritative.

4.1 Maize Seed

While implementing the
fast-track programme, government decreed that it wasessential to spare seed
producers from acquisition and to this end they wereclassified as
agro-industries. However, in practice the Minister proceededto acquire all
farms, including those producing seed. Although governmenthad policies on
one-person-one-farm policy and on minimum farm sizes, thesewere not adhered
to, resulting in almost all seed growers being evicted.

Commercial seed
farmers produced on average, 5 tonnes of seed maize perhectare. The new seed
farmers produced an average of 0.4 tonnes of seedmaize per ha. Whereas 12
000 ha traditionally produced sufficient seed (60000 tones), 150 000 ha
would now be now required to produce the same 60 000tones of
seed.

For the current year, with heightened requirements for food and
there-building of strategic stocks, the Ministry and seed houses agreed that
upto 80 000 tonnes of seed would be required. Apart from lower yields,
therewere many problems faced by the seed producers. The lawlessness in
thecountry resulted in unprecedented thefts of the seed crop, one
companyreporting loss through thefts of between 15% and 20% of their seed
crop lastyear. The national shortage of fertilizers also had an adverse
bearing onthe quantity of seed produced.

The seed available at the
start of the season was only 32 000 tonnes or 40%of the target. At 25 kg per
ha, this quality of seed would be sufficient tocultivate 1 280 000 ha. Using
the previous national average yield of 0.75tonnes per ha, the available seed
was therefore sufficient to produce - atoptimal conditions and all other
things being equal - only 960 000 tonnes ofmaize.

The seed was not
readily available in the market even at the time ofplanting and the little
that was available was too expensive for theordinary communal and A1
farmers. The prices were upward of $100 000 per50kg bag, enough for 2 ha
only. Consequently, many farmers bought sufficientseed only to plant for
their own subsistence.

Given the shortage of seed, government encouraged
farmers to do their ownseed selection from maize they had harvested the
previous season. This was adisingenuous recommendation. Over the years,
farmers in Zimbabwe have beenencouraged to buy hybrid seed which have made
it possible to achieve higheryields. As a result, open pollinated varieties
have became all but extinct.The germination and yield of seed selected from
hybrid maize production ishighly suspect. Some farmers may have kept seed
from the previous season,but the quantities would be very small because seed
would only have beenretained due to exceptional circumstance arising from a
lack of rain, toolate to plant, lack of tillage or some other
cause.

4.2 Shortage of Fertilizers

The major producers
of fertilizers informed the Portfolio committee thattheir operations had
been severely curtailed by the shortage of foreigncurrency to import raw
materials used in the production of fertilizers aswell as spare parts for
their machinery. As a result, the main producers,Sable Chemicals and
Zimphos, operated at well below their capacities. Themajor raw materials
they required were potash, sulphur and ammonia. Theyonly managed to secure
30% of their foreign currency requirements. Tooperate at full capacity they
require only US$ 2,45 million per month. Thisis a very small amount of
foreign currency considering its cascadingbenefits. Like other companies,
they joined the parallel market to sourcefor foreign currency, which
increased prices of their products.

Also contributing to the fertiliser
shortages was the failure by theNational Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) to
deliver raw materials. In this regardonly 58% of raw materials consigned to
NRZ would be delivered. Thesecompanies then resorted to road haulage, which
cost 15 times more than theNRZ. These increased costs had to be passed on to
the consumers. Power cutsand load shading by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) furthercompounded their production problems.

Despite
all the above and numerated problems or challenges, the governmenthad strict
price controls on fertilizers. These price controls had norelationship with
the constraints and costs encountered in production.

"The negative impact
of the above mentioned factors on the industry need notbe over emphasized.
An analysis of statistics will clearly illustrate thesituation. Operating
under normal conditions, the fertilizer industry couldhave produced 370 000
tonnes between January and August this year. However,it only managed to
produce 240 000 tonnes, giving a deficit of 130 000tonnes. On average, the
industry has a capacity to produce about 550 000tonnes per annum.
Compounding this situation, now is the unprecedenteddemand in fertilizer due
to Land Reform Programme, which saw more farmerscoming into the fold.
Projections for domestic requirements of fertilizerpoint to 1 million metric
tonnes per agriculture season". (Report of thePortfolio Committee On Lands
presented to Parliament on 19th November 2003).

4.3 Tillage

The
third factor influencing food production is tillage. Government policyis
that District Development Fund (DDF) tractors are mandated to providetillage
for communal and A1 farmers, while Agricultural and RuralDevelopment
Authority (ARDA) is mandated to provide tillage to the A2farmers. For the
2003/04 season, the DDF charges were set at $32 000 per hawhile the ARDA
charges at were at commercial rates of $106 000 per ha.

The Portfolio
Committee was informed by the Zimbabwe Farmers Union thatalthough DDF had a
fleet of 768 tractors, 50% of them were grounded due tolack of spare parts.
Ministry of Agriculture officials confirmed thisinformation. The tillage
programme was further compounded by the acuteshortages of diesel. Farmers
also complained that the cost of ploughing.Disking was prohibited for
communal farmers.

4.4 Rainfall

Zimbabwe received early
rains, which pounded nearly the whole country forover a week between 16 and
24 October 2003. The rains were accompanied bycold, which left thousands of
cattle dead. More than 1 500 head of cattledied in Midlands alone. The early
rains did bring some relief, however, aspastures responded
favourably.

Many farmers took advantage of the early rains to plant
maize, butthereafter there was no further rain until towards end of
November. Thisresulted in much of the early planted maize being a write-off.
Fortunately,after a short break in January, rains have continued
beneficially until thewriting of this report, which is middle of March 2004.
The crop that will beworth talking about is the late crop - that is, the
maize planted from endof November onwards, despite the fact that any maize
planted aftermid-November always has a lower yield potential.

4.5
Combined Effects of the above Four Factors

Using the commercial seed
availability of 32 000 tonnes would imply no morethan 1 280 000 ha planted
to maize, but the additional of retained seed andseed taken from past
production might raise the total to say 40 000 tonnes,implying 1 600 000 ha
being planted to maize. With about 30% fertilizeravailability and less than
50% draught power, together with failure of theearly planted maize implies
production of between 650 000 and 850 000tonnes.

The upper estimate
is based on an estimated average yield of 0.5 tonnes perha. This is based
both on consideration of the input factors, urban maizeproduction estimates
and our field observations, which are described indetail in the next
section.

5 FIELD VISITS

5.1 Mashonaland West

This province
has traditionally been the biggest producer of maize in thecountry. It has
20 GMB depots out of a total of 70 depots for the wholecountry, with 7 of
these depots being modern silos. Around a third ofnational maize production
was normally expected to originate from thisprovince. This year, given
constraints on the availability of seed,Mashonaland West would have been
expected to have cultivated 416 000 ha,which at the historical national
average yield of 0.75 tonnes per ha wouldresult in 312 000 tonnes of maize.
The yield in this province is normallyhigher than the national average.
However, in the current season, thehectares being cultivated are low and the
yields well below historicallevels, with overall production from the
province unlikely to exceed 190 000tonnes.

Mhondoro communal area
became our first port of call and what confronted uswas a picture of
desperation. Many farmers were forced to restrictthemselves to small
acreages due to lack of inputs and the crop in someareas shows moisture
stress, tinged with yellow and visibly stunted. Onlypockets of areas within
Mhondoro will be able to produce subsistenceharvests, which nonetheless may
only be sufficient to last five months. Thisleaves a large portion of
Mhondoro in need of food relief. From interviewswe carried out, only those
farmers who planted late are likely to harvest ameaningful crop. Most
farmers failed to access inputs, this beingillustrated in one village of 76
households where only 2 households managedto get fertilizer packs
distributed by government, one of the recipientsbeing the VIDCO
Chairman.

Reports of rampant selective distribution patterns abound in
Mhondoro andNGO's have come to the rescue of some farmers by distributing
the muchneeded inputs and food relief. Catholic Relief Services is
currentlyinvolved in distributing food rations. There were complaints of
interferenceby the local councillor. Some of these villagers claimed to have
been deniedfood assistance by government. Many farmers relied on their
draught powerfor tillage.

Driving through the A2 area between
Mhondoro and Chegutu South we weresurprised to observe considerable
similarities, particularly as regards theunder-utilization of land. This
became a pattern throughout the areaalthough some maize stands were in
better shape than those we had witnessedin Mhondoro communal area.

In
relative terms, the areas planted are far below expectations. Failure
byresettled farmers to produce a meaningful crop can be laid on
government'sinability to help in the provision of inputs and
tillage.

Performance in the Musengezi Small Scale is mixed, but the
overall presentsa sad scenario. One striking observation we made was
over-reliance onGovernment support, even by farmers in this
area.

Zvimba Communal Area is a complete disaster with hardly any area of
promise.Yellow stunted stocks, already tussling at 2 feet tall, exemplify
the maizecrop. No harvests of any nature will be achieved. This should rank
as one ofthe most needy areas of food relief at this juncture, any delay
will resultin untold suffering of the people.

Chitomborwizi small
scale farming area is a huge relief although the areasplanted do not inspire
confidence. The late crop is above average. Farmersin this area could have
done better with adequate tillage and input supply.The resettlement area
between Chinhoyi and Chitomborwizi exhibits grossunder-utilization of
land.

The A2 areas encompassing Umboe, Mhangura, Lions Den including
Banketsignalled a discordant yield pattern with consequences throughout
thecountry. This is so because it is that particular area that
earnedMashonaland West the nickname of 'Mashonaland Best'. What we saw in
thatarea therefore casts a very dark shadow over the whole country. The
areasare regrettably symbolic of underutilization bordering on reckless
abandon.A sad scenario of absentee landlordship by the newly resettled
farmers iscommon throughout this area.

5.2 Mashonaland
East

This province in the past has also been highly productive, but
performancethis year will be well down. A yield of less than 0.5 tonnes per
ha has tobe assumed from this province and with under 200 000 ha under
cultivationabout 90 000 tonnes of maize may be produced.

The
Enterprise farming area had fair to good stands of crops, mainly soyabeans.
The small area under maize was just average. Murewa communal area,which in
good years would deliver over 100 000 tonnes to GMB, suffers fromthe same
factors affecting other areas. There are fields that are fallow,there is
apparent shortage of ammonium nitrate and the maize has also beenadversely
affected by the continuous rains. The situation is the same fromJuru right
through the Chitawa. The area South of Mrewa along Macheke roadis no better.
Chitawa is slightly above average. Overall, Murehwa will havea crop which is
just below average.

The old resettlement area in Mutoko around Corner
Store, especially North ofCorner Store, has an excellent maize crop.
Although not all the land was putto crops, what is in the ground are good
maize stands with potential forhigh yields. That resettlement area has good
and production farmers. Weunderstand however that the Jani Area, South of
Corner Store is not as good.

Virginia area of Murehwa South going all the
way to Macheke is known forhigh production of both maize and tobacco. It was
sad to see nothing in thatwhole area, except one black farmer after Nyahuni
Mission who has producedan excellent crop of maize. Also another farmer has
a good crop of sorghum.While it was not our brief to look at tobacco,
Honourable Chitongo has quitea large and good crop of tobacco. We talked to
a few farmers who told usthat their problem was cost and availability of
inputs. Once again, thereare tracks and tracks of fields which are fallow.
Most of the fields arefallow because those allocated the land did not take
it up. Those who tookup the land, mainly A1 farmers, made some attempt to
put something in theground, but the output will be below subsistence
levels.

Generally, what people see while driving along a major road in
the countryis no different from what is happening deep inside the
countryside. One canend up with a fair assessment without carrying out the
survey in the mannerthat we did.

Marondera/Wedza: we combine these
two districts because the level ofviolence and destruction was the same. It
was also difficult in some casesto tell whether the team was still in
Marondera or was then in Wedza. Theteam used the Ruzawi road, which enabled
us to go right through commercialfarms. We were lost at some point and
continued to dead end roads. Thathelped us to see some of the farms where
there was no cropping going on atall. We came back through Igova and
proceeded to Wedza. Only in the communalarea of Wedza can one talk of some
crop maize 4 months after harvest.

The former commercial farms in that
area are just full of grass and nothingelse. In fact, there is a lot of
grass this year. The level and extent ofgrass is an indication that if there
were a crop, which naturally would beattending to and cared for, the crop
would be better than grass. In almostall areas, we saw fields that were
planted with maize or soya beans, but thepoor farmers were overcome by grass
and weeds to the extend of a totalwrite-off of those crops. In a lot of
these areas, particularly those withred soils, it is not possible to go
large-scale using hoes to weed. A highlevel of mechanisation is required,
together with the use of herbicides,otherwise such farmers would require a
very large labour force. Overall theMarondera/Wedza area is equally
bad.

5.3 Mashonaland Central

Historically, this province closely
followed Mashonaland West in terms ofproduction. The size of the province
contributes to its being the secondhighest producer, otherwise rainfall,
soil types and other factors arebasically the same. Its traditional
production percentage was about 19.

This season it is the only province
visited that has a good crop. Like otherprovinces, it was affected by lack
of inputs and uptake by A2 farmers,leaving large areas fallow. While the
land cultivated had a good crop, thiswould be reduced by the quality of land
fallow. At 0.7 tonnes per ha, 210000 tonnes would be produced from 300 000
ha, but the actual area planted isless than this. Despite having a yield
higher than this year's nationalaverage, production in this province will be
reduced to below 200 000 tonnesby input shortages and unutilised
land.

Musana Communal area in Shamva District has an excellent maize
crop. Thefarmers there are assured of high yields from the maize. It does
appear thatthey timed their planting correctly, as there was no evidence of
a damagedcrop as a result of early planting. The crops appear to have had
sufficientfertilizers. However, as one proceeds into the Pote Valley, which
was famousfor cotton, maize, tobacco and soya beans, the pattern observed in
otherprovinces starts emerging.

The social status of the individuals
determines the success of some A2farmers. Farms belonging to business people
and senior government officialshave an above average crop with some areas
planted being large. Thepreponderance of irrigation infrastructure,
particularly in Shamva andBindura, explains why the crop in those areas is
above average. However, thelarge crop grown in that area is soya beans
rather than maize.

Chiweshe communal generally suffered from lack of
rainfall. Those farmerswho planted early have no crop while those who
planted late have a young andgood crop. From interviews carried out,
communal farmers in Chiweshe had noproblems accessing seed and fertilizers,
with most of them acquiring theirinputs from GMB. The crop in the field
sound and these farmers will be ableto sale some of their produce to the
market, unlike other farmers in thecommunal areas. Others will have
subsistence stocks of between 2 to 5months.

The A2 area between
Glendale and Gweshe exhibits mixed fortunes, with themajority doing above
average, while others have little to nothing withfields lying fallow. It was
not possible to find out why some of the landwas left fallow. The Mazoe
Valley is characterized by vast area of soyabeans and citrus fruits, while
the few farmers who planted maize will havean above average crop.

5.4
Manicaland

This province historically is a marginal producer, as most
production isconcentrated in only 3 of its districts. The districts we
covered wereMakoni, Mutasa and Nyanga. We estimated a maximum production of
50 000tonnes.

In Makoni, the team surveyed Chinyika old resettlement
area. Again this waschosen for its experienced farmers and generally it is a
high productionarea. The small crop was suffering from fertilizer deficiency
coupled withexcessive moisture. The production will be just below average.
There wasjust one good maize stand of well above average, with a good
hectarecultivated by this farmer. Otherwise, as far as the new farmers
wereconcerned, the picture was the same as other provinces and districts
alreadydiscussed.

The Mutasa area covered was that through
Bonda Mission, joining Nyanga roadnext to Monte Claire. This area sometimes
gets too cold for the productionof good maize but nevertheless the plots
around people's houses normallywould have good crop. This year, like many
other farmers, they will needearly food assistance.

The rains in
Nyanga came quite late this year. Because of the generalclimate in the area,
planting has to be completed much earlier than mostareas to avoid maize
getting stunted by the cold whether. In this districtwe went as far as
Nyatate School, with the same situation of poor cropsbeing evident
throughout.

5.5 Midlands

Midlands is a very large province
geographically but production is limitedto Gokwe, Kwekwe, Chirumhanzu, and
Gweru District. Other than Kwekwedistrict, the crops thought the province is
very poor. Our estimate is that55 000 tonnes could be produced this year.
The districts chosen for thefield visit in this province were Gokwe and
Kwekwe.

The old resettlement area, between Empress Mine turn off and
Munyati river,has an above average crop. Talking to the farmers, their main
constraint tothe production of maize was lack of inputs. In fact one farmer
proudlyshowed us his maize crop grown from his own selected seed. Although
he washappy, his crop was well below average. Whilst this cannot be
conclusive, itconfirms that selected seed does not perform well. When it is
available,farmers always prefer to buy hybrid seed.

The Sidakeni
communal area in Kwekwe district is very bad indeed. TheChemagora small
scale farming area, like many of its kind, suffers from thedeprivation of
the original farmers who bought these properties many yearsago. Those who
inherited these farms are not necessarily farmers. There isempirical
evidence that communal farmers are more productive than the smallscale
commercial farmers. In any case Chemagara was created mainly forranching.
Most of the small scale farms are thus much bigger than themajority of the
A2s. There was no maize to talk about in this area.

The main Zhombe
Communal area between Zhombe Business Centre and theSesombe, the maize cop
is fair to good. In the Sesombe area, where there arefarmers settled under
the form tenet scheme, the maize is mostly fair.

The team went to Gokwe,
past Gokwe centre and along the Sengwe Road for 20km. The team was able to
talk to many farmers in Gokwe. The crop in thefields is poor. It has
difficulties caused by lack of fertilizers. Thosefarmers we spoke to said
that they were not able to put al their land undercultivation because of
shortage of inputs. The stressed that they would needfood assistance before
next year's harvest.

5.6 Masvingo

This is another marginal
province. It is estimated maybe 10 000 tonnes couldcome from this
province.

In this province, the team visited Gutu district. The
Chatsworth area hadattempts at cropping although the crops were poor. Gutu
has a far belowaverage crop. Only some parts of Serima have an average
crop.

5.7 Matabeleland North & South

These provinces combined
could perhaps produce 5 000 tonnes of maize. Theydo produce some small
grains, but very little going into the market. Smallgrains do form an
important part of food security at the household level.Many NGO's provide
seed for small grain production in Matabeleland
andelsewhere.

According to FAO, there is a good crop of sorghum in
parts of Matabeleland.Unfortunately, this crop was planted early and it is
being damaged by rainas it has matured. While we did not see meaningful
small grains cropping inour field visit, we would perhaps accept 100 000
tonnes as a likelyproduction estimate for the whole country, with an upper
estimate of 200 000tonnes.

5.8 Peri Urban Agriculture

It is
ironic that the best crop in the country is to be found around Harare.The
yields in and around Harare will be much higher than in the farms, butthe
area planted is very limited. Thus, although the maize crop in urbanareas of
Harare looks good in terms of yield, its contribution to thenational food
supply will be infinitesimal. It has been estimated that 50000 tonnes of
maize will be produced in the urban and peri-urban areas ofthe
country.

The reason why the crop in Harare is good can be attributed to
theavailability of inputs on the black market. The financial outlays of
thosefamilies involved would not be that big, as the land cultivated per
familyis small. The result is that the level of inputs tends to be much
higherthan is the case in the rural areas where farmers plant much larger
areas ofmaize.

5.9 Provincial Findings at a Glance

Table 2
provides a summary of the results of the field survey in
aconvenientform.

At the
time of preparing this report (mid March 2004), the SADC EarlyWarning Unit
was busy carrying out its own survey, while the FAO Unit willonly start its
survey at the end of March or early in April. The governmentCrop Forecasting
Committee was still to meet. It is under considerablepolitical pressure to
produce an optimistic forecast of production.

In the past, the Central
Statistics Office (CSO) Crop Forecasting Committee,kept its information
confidential until about March each year, when theofficial crop forecasts
were made public. During the sales or deliveryperiod the GMB kept the public
informed of the quantities delivered. Sincethe militarization of GMB,
nothing is revealed to the public at all. Thenation does not know how much
food was produced in the 2002/03 season, howmuch the GMB bought and the
current status of maize stocks in the country.

The team was able to hold
discussions with and obtain the views of theIndigenous Commercial Farmers
Union (ICFU) The Commercial Farmers Union(CFU) and the Zimbabwe Farmers
Union (ZFU):

· The ICFU believe that the total food in the country would
be slightlybetter than last season. It is generally agreed that last season
not morethan 900 000 tonnes of maize were produced. The main factors
contributing toa low crop were shortages of inputs in all the newly
resettled areas.

· The CFU estimate the crop in the current 2003/04
season at between 750 000tonnes and 800 000 tonnes. They also pointed out
that the crop in peri-urban Harare was in better condition than the maize in
any rural area aroundthe country.

· The ZFU mentioned that the early
crop was a write-off. However, despitealso acknowledging input shortages and
prohibitive costs, ZFU expect a largecrop of between 1 500 000 tonnes and 2
000 000 tonnes of maize. They believethat the newly resettlement farmers may
not have enough food for themselves.

The Famine Early Warning System
Network (FEWSNET) provided the team with itsFebruary 2004 report.
Extrapolating from previous CSO crop forecastingcommittee estimates of the
land cropped and using a yield estimate ofbetween 0.75 and 0.8 tonnes per
ha, FEWSNET arrives at a production estimateof between 800 000 tonnes and 1
000 000 tonnes of maize . As for smallgrains, they estimate a production of
between 200 000 tonnes and 300 000tonnes. In relation to an assumption of
demand being 1 800 000 tonnes, theseestimates imply a shortfall of between
500 000 tonnes and 800 000 tonnes.

All the agencies canvassed agree that
the shortage of inputs have had amajor effect on the production of maize
this year. The views of ICFU, CFUand FEWSNET are of the same order of
magnitude as the team's estimates,although on the more optimistic side. The
ZFU estimates are far tooexaggerated and are not consistent with ZFU
simultaneously highlighting thatthere were serious shortages of
inputs.

7. CONCLUSION

When the government embarked on its fast
track land reform, it was obviousto all that the programme was driven by
political expediency. On paper andfor the purpose of mollifying countries in
the southern African region, thepolicy was presented as an overdue response
to the national land question.However, the land policy, which on paper was
made to appear reasonable, wasbelied by the reality on the ground of mayhem
characterised by murder,assaults, rape, theft, and wanton destruction of
infrastructure. More than250 000 farm workers lost their jobs and
livelihoods and in turn a mere 134400 families were resettled on more than
11m ha.

It is the complete lack of planning, accompanied by the
destruction ofagricultural infrastructure, and the cynical award of farms to
people unableor unwilling to make use of them, that has put the country into
a situationof perennial food deficits or famine. The dismissive attitude of
thegovernment to the food crisis which it has itself inflicted on the
countryis amply demonstrated by the response of Minister Joseph Made to the
17thDecember 2003 report of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands
andAgriculture. The Committee made the following
recommendations:

(i) The
Private Sector should be allowed to import seed maize and fertilizeras a
matter of urgency in order to bridge the shortfall.

(ii) Government
should formally appeal to the NGO Sector and the donorcommunity to assist
with resources to import the required inputs.

(iii) The distribution of
inputs should be targeted at farmers who have beenproperly vetted as opposed
to the prevailing free-for-all scenarios.

(iv) Seed production should be
classified under Agro-business and protectthe commercial farmers from
eviction who have complied with maximum farmsize.

Recommendations:
4.2 Medium to Long-term: For the medium to long termsolutions to the crisis,
your Committee is recommending that:

(i) The Ministry of Lands,
Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, inconjunction with Seed Houses and
Fertilizer Companies, should come up with acomprehensive plan which will
restore and guarantee seed and fertilisersecurity in the country. The
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and RuralResettlement should submit this plan
to the Portfolio Committee on Lands,Agriculture, and Water Development,
Rural Resources and Resettlement inMarch 2004.

(ii) Inputs should be
distributed to farmers by May of each year, so as toavoid last minute
logistical bottlenecks.

(iii) Land tenure should be urgently clarified
and finalised so as torestore security and confidence in the agriculture
sector.

(iv) The recently established Land Bank should provide a specific
facilityto assist seed growers with funding".

Hansard of 17th
December 2003 columns 2140-2142

The Hon. Renson Gasela, MP of Gweru Rural
and Shadow Minister for the MDC,seconded the Portfolio Committee's motion
and read the above recommendationsin Parliament. Minister Made, in his
response stated:

"Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me now turn to the issues
that were raised byHon. Gasela. First of all, I want to make it quite clear
that the documenthe was reading was his own draft. He was reading his draft;
the Chairpersonis the one who made the report. I know the recommendations
that are in thatreport, so we want to be open with each other. When he reads
an ultimatum tome as a Minister, I know the procedure; I am answerable to
Cabinet in termsof any documents that relate to the plans and to the
agreements that wereach. If I have to bring a document to him directly, then
it sill not beconsistent with the procedure and so on. So, the
recommendations areunderstood but I would like to put it that what he was
reading, I do notthink it is in that report. I have made the necessary
consultations with theChairperson who presented the report. I want to
emphasise again that weshould respect the Committee and we always share the
ideas. I am fully awareof where I make the plans and submit for approval at
Cabinet. So, I justthought I should correct that particular
aspect".

Hansard of 17th December 2003 Column 2159

What Hon.
Gasela read in Parliament is exactly what is recorded as therecommendations
in the Committee's report. The Minister claimed to believethat Hon. Gasela
was reading from his own notes and thereby avoidedaddressing the substantive
issues raised. It is quite clear that thegovernment has no intention of
addressing the food situation. Plans for the2004/05 summer crop should by
March 2004 have been at an advanced stage asper the Committee's
recommendations. It is common knowledge that nothing isbeing done at the
moment.

The issue is not just the government's failure to move to
restoring foodsecurity, but its use of food as a political weapon. The
mechanisms used areblatant. The government has forced all village heads
(kraal heads) to bechairpersons of ZANU PF. They have now been put on a
monthly salary. Duringthe September 2002 Rural District Council Elections
and also the InsizaParliamentary By-election, village heads drew up lists of
their people andtold them openly that if they did not vote for ZANU PF
candidates, they werenot going to access food. These village heads were seen
camped outside thestatutory 100 meters from polling stations ticking names
of those who hadcome to vote. The same thing happened in Gutu North by
election recently.Such vote buying and rigging is now done openly and
publicly by this regime.

The Zimbabwe Government has never disclosed how
much maize was produced inthe 2002/03 season, nor how much GMB bought.
However, investigations haverevealed that GMB bought 250 000 tonnes last
year. It has also come to lightthat all that maize is being kept in storage,
mainly in Mashonaland West andCentral. This maize was not released into the
market despite the fact thatthere were severe shortages of mealie-meal in
much of the country untilrecently. Through GMB the government supplement
these stocks by buying asmuch as possible of this season's maize production.
However, given thelimited size of the crop and the subsistence needs of the
farmingcommunities, it is not expected that total stocks of maize will be
more than400 000 tonnes. The government will use padded figures of food
production inorder to create an impression of self-sufficiency.

It is
clear that the government, despite being fully aware of the impendingfood
shortage, has no intention of approaching UNDP for food aid. The 400000
tonnes of maize will be used for general election campaign purposes.

The
estimated food supply situation in the country for this year will be
asfollows:

The above scenarios exclude any strategic reserves which
should be 500 000tonnes. Whichever way one looks at the situation, there
will be a hugeshortage of food in the country, caused by a potent
combination of chaoticland reform and destructive macro-economic policies.
According to the WorldFood Programme report as at November 18 2003, the
target for food aid was torise to 4 500 000 people by March 2004. It is
common cause that WFP's appealto donors last year only resulted in 44 % of
the necessary resources beingraised. Not all the Zimbabweans in need get
food aid from the donors, forvarious reasons including lack of resources.
This year, the number of peoplein need of food will be more than 8 000 000
or about three quarters of thepopulation during the course of the upcoming
year. Of these people WFPestimates that 2 500 000 people will be in the
urban areas.

As regards future cropping seasons, the adverse legacy of
the chaotic landreform will continue to depress the average yield. This
implies that thearea that would be needed for self-sufficiency in maize and
small grainswould be much larger than in the past, and correspondingly
higher levels ofinputs would be required. Even with a change of government
and theintroduction of consistent, growth-oriented economic policies, it
will notbe immediately possible to provide the finance, seeds, fertilisers,
draughtpower and tractors to meet these very large requirements. It needs
also tobe noted that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has decimated the working
population,making it much more difficult for rural communities to meet
productiontargets, while also raising the importance of providing a proper
diet tothose afflicted with the HIV virus.

Zimbabwe is thus likely to
be in need of assistance in providing basicfoodstuffs for some years to
come. Food self-sufficiency will only berestored when the land question has
properly and finally resolved andcoherent economic policies have been put in
place.

In 2004/05, the suffering of the people will be increased by the
fact thatthe government, through Statutory Instrument 235A of 2001, has
criminalizedthe selling of maize among and between people. In terms of the
StatutoryInstrument, all the maize that is available must by-pass starving
people andbe sold to GMB. GMB then sells that maize to those carrying ZANU
PF cards.

In urban areas, which are strongholds of the MDC, the sale of
maize by GMBhas been stopped and maize is instead sold through ZANU-PF
Councillors. Afurther example of the political manipulation of maize in the
urban areas isprovided by the case of Mutare. In March 2004, the MDC Mayor
of Mutare triedto use money collected by his Christmas Cheer Fund to buy
maize from the GMBfor distribution to the destitute. GMB refused to sell
maize to the Mayor,an unacceptable position that was upheld on appeal by the
Governor ofManicaland.

The plight of the Zimbabwean people will only
be resolved when all thegovernance issues have been addressed.

Blair must do more for Zimbabwe
Deputy Conservative Leader Michael Ancram has called on the BlairGovernment
to crackdown harder on Robert Mugabe, after the tyrannicalPresident of
Zimbabwe denied that millions of his people are starving.

In an
interview, the 80 year old President of Zimbabwe accused theBritish of
treating his country like a colony, charged Tony Blair witharrogance and of
refusing to take part in dialogue, insisted he was in hispost as a result of
the "will of the people", and reckoned that the seizureof white farms would
reinvigorate his economy.

But commenting, Mr Ancram said: "Either
he is living in a differentworld, or he is a pathological liar. Mugabe, like
all tyrants, holds ontopower by oppressing those who oppose
him."

The Shadow Foreign Secretary said the Conservatives continued
to callfor free and fair elections to be held in Zimbabwe, so the people of
thesouthern African state can have a proper their say over who rules
them.

"We also believe more should have been done by the British
government,to freeze the assets of those who assist Mugabe in his brutal and
corruptregime," Mr Ancram added.

He said later: "Everything
Mugabe has said bears no relation to thereality on the ground. He's living
in a fantasy world, he knows we know hiselection two years ago was a rigged
election, and the only way he can clearthat is to hold new, free
elections."

Asked if negotiations were possible, Mr Ancram replied:
"Negotiationscould still be available if free and fair elections take place.
There isevery indication that if the people of Zimbabwe got to chose they
would notchose Robert Mugabe - a man who is deliberately using a lack of
food to tryand put political pressure on the people of Zimbabwe."

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Monday confirmed
"some intelligence"information had passed between South Africa and Zimbabwe
before the 70 SouthAfrican alleged mercenaries left South Africa.

The
men were arrested after their plane landed in Zimbabwe about a
monthago.

They are suspected of being on their way to participate in
a coup inEquatorial Guinea, where eight other South Africans are being held
assuspected co-plotters.

Briefing the media at parliament, Lekota
rejected suggestions they shouldhave been arrested in South Africa before
being allowed to leave forZimbabwe, saying arrests could not be made on the
basis of intelligence.

Arrests could only be made once there was evidence
a crime had beencommitted.

Lekota said a delegation from Equatorial
Guinea led by its attorney-generalJose Obono visited South Africa last week
for consultations with variousgovernment agencies, family, and legal
representatives of the eight men heldthere.

Efforts were being made
to bring the prisoners to court as soon as possible,in the presence of
international observers with a view to ensuring a fairtrial for them, he
said.

All those detained had been visited several times by South
Africandiplomats, led by the ambassadors in Gabon and Zimbabwe, in
conformity withGeneva Convention requirements and South African
law.

These consular visits would continue at regular intervals and South
Africanofficials would assist the men and their families wherever
possible.

Regarding efforts by family members to have the men extradited
directly toSouth Africa, Lekota said it should be appreciated that
government had notreceived any official notification of the intention by
Zimbabwe to extraditethe 70 South Africans to Equatorial
Guinea.

Nonetheless, South Africa would not shirk its responsibilities in
ensuringthe prisoners were afforded their rights in terms of the Geneva
Conventionand in line with the Constitution, and that the trial they faced
would befair and within the norms of international law.

Lekota said
government would not entertain speculation about the possibleoutcomes of the
trials, as this might help to pre-empt the judgements by therespective
courts.

Only when judgement had been delivered would government engage
with theprocess.

He also dismissed "with the contempt it deserves"
opposition party claimsthat government was "an accessory" to the matter as
ridiculous. - Sapa

Overall annual inflation in Zimbabwe declined in April to 505%
year-on-year(y/y) from 583.7% y/y in March, with all sub-categories of the
inflationindex registering a decrease, Standard Bank (SBK) noted in a
research brief.

"Clearly, the administrative measures introduced over the
past six monthshave been instrumental in lowering inflation. However, viewed
over a longerterm the inflation outlook is not positive," Standard Bank
economistand author of the brief Robert Bunyi says.

The productive
sector lending facility is injecting considerableinflationary pressure into
the country's economy.

"We expect annual inflation rates will continue to
decline but will laterrevert to a rising trend," Bunyi said.

He noted
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in late April reduced theovernight rate
from 400% to 205%, indicating to the market where it wouldlike interest
rates to be.

"Following this the bank stated that compound effective
interest ratesshould be in line with inflation levels. In response to these
signals,commercial banks progressively began revising lending rates
downward.

By
Mduduzi MathuthuLast updated: 05/25/2004 05:04:16PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
has rejected claims that his £5 million mansionunder construction in the
plush Borrowdale suburb of Harare will be fundedby tax-payers.

"Come
on, come on, come on, that can't be true," an agitated Mugabe saidwhen
confronted on his luxury palace in an interview with Sky News
screenedMonday.

"I was given the house by the party way back in
1984/85 and it was burnt.The party was to assist and we have been trying to
build another one fromour resources since 1986," the 80-year-old tyrant
said.

Mugabe became particularly uncomfortable when Sky News reporter
StuartRumsay asked him to respond to widespread suggestions that "you are
corruptas well."

He told the reporter that the 25-bedroomed mansion
was funded partly by theChinese and Malaysian governments.

"We agreed
with the Yugoslav company Energo Project that we would provideconstruction
material little by little and they provide labour, and theyagreed," Mugabe
said.

Mugabe said he had also received timber from Malaysia's former
PrimeMinister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and roofing materials from the
Chinesegovernment.

Mugabe was unapologetic for the heavy cost of the
mansioin in the face ofwidespread poverty and unemployment in his country.
"It is lavish because itis attractive," said Mugabe. "Of course it is
lavish, the Chinese are doingthe roofing. They are our good friends you
see."

Mugabe's mansion was declared a "protected area" last month as he
facedcalls to disclose the source of foreign currency for exclusive
importedmaterials being used at the mammoth project.

The designation
of the area as "protected area" means access is now severelyrestricted and
anyone who strays or is caught taking photographs might landin hot
water.

The police can now legally shoot and kill anyone who strays into
the areawithout authority as has been done at Mugabe's official residence,
ZimbabweHouse, where several motorists have been shot and killed over the
years.

The private mansion in the suburb of Helensvale, near Borrowdale,
has beenunder construction for the past five years and is now expected to
cost morethan £5 million on completion.

Apart from bricks, gravel and
cement which have been sourced locally,sources say everything else at the
property, particularly all the interiorfinishings and roofing materials have
been imported from China and Europe.

The house is being built mainly by a
Yugoslav company, Energo Project,though some work is subcontracted to other
companies.

The project also involves the construction of two sizeable
dams around themansion and extensive landscaping work.

Mugabe has
been facing calls to disclose where he has been getting theforeign currency
to purchase all the imported materials for his houseparticularly after the
arrest of his finance minister, Christopher Kuruneri.

Kuruneri is in jail
after being arrested for illegally exporting foreigncurrency to South Africa
where he is reportedly building a R30-millionmansion in Cape
Town.

Zimbabwe is mired in its worst foreign currency crisis after the
collapse ofthe tobacco farming sector in the wake of Mugabe's land
seizures.

A spokesman for the anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency
International(Zimbabwe Chapter) said in view of that background, it becomes
"absolutelyessential" for Mugabe to disclose where and how he has been
getting foreigncurrency to pay for all imports for his private
mansion.

Scores of manufacturing companies have folded due to lack of
foreigncurrency to meet essential imports.

On behalf of
its 15 million members in over 140 countries in 900 unions inmore than 150
countries, among them the Zimbabwe Bank and Allied WorkersUnion (ZIBAWU),
Union Network International (UNI) protests in the strongestpossible terms
the totally unjustified dismissal of more than 300 workers on20 May 2004 and
the threat to lay off many more.

We have been informed that the ZIMBANK
employees and union membersparticipated in a meeting called by the ZIMBANK
national workers committeeover the refusal of your management to address
issues of high concern toyour employees, e.g. share participation, medical
aid, wage adjustments etc.We understand that the above issues have been
discussed between yourselvesand the workers representatives since September
2003, without any sign ofwillingness from your side to resolve the
situation.

The above dismissals state a clear violation of workers'
rights asguaranteed by the Labor Relations Act of Zimbabwe and the ILO
Declaration ofFundamental Principles and Rights at work which your country
has signed.

We therefore urge you to take immediate action to intervene
and ensure theimmediate and unconditional reinstatement of the dismissed
workers.

We furthermore demand you to respect the workers' right to
participate inactions as set out in the ILO conventions and the Labor
Relations Act ofZimbabwe.